Suki Waterhouse Reveals How Robert Pattinson Inspired Her New Album ‘Loveland’ — Inside Their Love Story and Her Rise to Rock Stardom

A New Chapter: Motherhood and Music

Suki Waterhouse is feeling nostalgic. On a gloomy spring afternoon, the 34-year-old meets me at a cozy Notting Hill pub across the street from the flat where she lived for most of her 20s. Her manager booked a table under a pseudonym, but at 2:30 p.m., the establishment is empty except for a few old men nursing Guinnesses. 'That was completely unnecessary,' Waterhouse says as she greets me, looking effortless yet elevated in a Vivienne Westwood duster jacket. 'But maybe it gave me an air of mystery.'

Waterhouse is the opposite of aloof. She beat me to the pub, and by the time I arrived, was already ordering a Coke and a basket of fries to share. There's a straw wrapper on the table, but she brushes it off, unbothered, and curls up in an armchair like a cat. She's had quite the week already, starting with the Met Gala, where she turned heads in a plunging pink Michael Kors gown inspired by Greek statues carved out of rose marble. It's fitting that Waterhouse would be dressed like a goddess; up close, her skin looks airbrushed, save for a few freckles on her nose, and her honey-blonde hair is impossibly shiny.

'I haven't had that many big nights — maybe two — since I've had my daughter,' she says. Waterhouse shares a 2-year-old with her partner, actor Robert Pattinson, whom she met at a star-studded L.A. game night in 2018. 'And, yeah, we stayed out till 7 a.m.' Highlights of the Met Gala included catching up with 'Heated Rivalry' breakout Connor Storrie and seeing Stevie Nicks perform. 'I said hi to Stevie Nicks! That's obviously a huge moment,' exclaims Waterhouse, who starred in the 2023 Amazon series 'Daisy Jones & the Six,' which was loosely based on Fleetwood Mac's recording of 'Rumours.' She was also pranked by 'Saturday Night Live' star Marcello Hernandez when he introduced Bad Bunny — who was made up like an old man for the occasion — to her as his uncle. 'He totally got me,' she laughs.

The Muse: Robert Pattinson

It's not hard to tell that on her third album, 'Loveland,' Pattinson is Waterhouse's muse. The album's opening song and lead single, 'Back in Love,' is a joyous trumpet-backed ode to getting her own spark back postpartum, as well as in their relationship. 'I felt like my identity had been cut open in becoming a mother,' she admits. 'Internally, there's been quite a lot of turmoil and just wondering if I'm doing the right thing. And especially, oh my God, the hormones right after you have a baby are so intense.'

But the heart of 'Loveland' for Waterhouse is its closing track, 'Weirdo,' a lilting love song about missing Pattinson when they're apart. 'You're on set / Is that ancient Rome?' Waterhouse sings in the opening line, then croons in the chorus: 'Dreams come true / But they take me far away from you.' 'It's acknowledging that these big life moments are happening, and it's this whirlwind that we're on. But at the same time being like, 'I haven't brushed my teeth next to you for a long time,'' she says. The album also features the sassy 'Tiny Raisin,' fueled by 'postpartum angst, but with lots of love in there too.'

Raising a child in the public eye has not been easy. Waterhouse and Pattinson have chosen not to share their daughter's name or face publicly but are hounded by paparazzi. 'I think it really is possible to keep as much of your life private as possible. You can have both,' she says. 'But you don't want someone to recognize your kid in the street; it's a safety thing.'

Working with Legends

Waterhouse's collaborators on 'Loveland' include 'Espresso' hitmaker Amy Allen, Taylor Swift go-to Aaron Dessner, and Lorde producer Joel Little. For the first time, she had the option to work with some of the biggest people in the industry. 'It's kind of crazy. I'm like, really?' she says. In a full-circle twist, the country-tinged 'Morals' features drums from none other than Mick Fleetwood, whom Waterhouse met when he reached out for her help writing a song for an upcoming project. 'I used our collaboration as leverage and asked him to drum on [‘Morals'] and he was like, 'Sure, that's easy for me. I can whip it out in 15 minutes.''

From Model to Rock Star: The Evolution

Waterhouse was scouted as a model in high school, plucked from the affluent West London suburb of Chiswick. She has since modeled for Tommy Hilfiger, appeared on five Vogue covers, and walked the runway for Burberry and Balenciaga. But she felt destined for more. Acting came first, with Waterhouse scoring small roles in films like 'Love, Rosie' and 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.' Behind the scenes, she was also starting to write music of her own. She released her first single in 2016 — the lo-fi heartbreak ballad 'Brutally' — followed by three more in the next three years, refining her jangly DIY indie-pop sound.

It wasn't until she played a musician in 'Daisy Jones' that Waterhouse decided to give music a real shot. 'I was suddenly learning piano in a very serious way for hours and hours a day. And then the pandemic happened, and I was back in London, stuck here for a year with all those new tools in front of me,' she says. 'I had that moment of realizing, I really want to finally put together my first piece of work.'

Waterhouse has now released two acclaimed albums — 2022's 'I Can't Let Go' and 2024's 'Memoir of a Sparklemuffin' — graduating from touring with Father John Misty to commanding festival stages and opening for Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' in London. Of Swift, Waterhouse says, 'The coolest thing about her is she gives other artists these insane opportunities that really change people's lives.'

Loveland: The Album and Its Stories

The 14-track 'Loveland' — for which Waterhouse cites the Stone Roses, PJ Harvey, and the Replacements as sonic inspiration — thematically swings between nostalgia for the wild days and nights of her youth and longing to be settled with her family. There's even a track named for Notting Hill — a groovy piano-led love letter to 'running around with a hangover in my early 20s' and wondering when you'll meet your own Hugh Grant. Turns out, her apartment across the street is also 'really where I fell in love with Rob,' she says, blushing.

The album puts Waterhouse's expansive range on full display, from the sassy bravado of 'Any Man' to the pensive and stripped-back 'Seasons,' which she recorded at Dessner's iconic Long Pond Studios. Waterhouse is reveling in the creative freedom that has come with this chapter of her career. 'It's the first time that I'm actually really the boss,' she says, adding: 'Being a young woman is f**ing brutal. And then when you get older, you realize that no one really has any idea what they're doing.'

Now that she's found her footing, for Waterhouse life is all about creation: of art, of family, of a loveland all her own. 'I feel like I'm in it for the long run,' she says, finishing off her Coke. 'I just want to keep creating, really, and maybe have a larger family … like max two more kids. That would be cool.'

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